Tag Archives: Syria

Stephen Lendman ~ Obama’s Syria Game Plan: Libya 2.0

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Stephen Lendman May 10 2013

Obama’s already waging multiple direct and proxy wars. He’s heading America for more. Media scoundrels support it. They back all US aggression. They’re beating the drums again now. They’re manipulating public sentiment for support.

Russia, China and most other nations want peace. May 8 commemorates Victory in Europe Day (VE Day). Russia’s toll was greatest. For many, war horrors still echo.

On May 9, Russia commemorated Victory Day. Ceremonies included an elaborate Red Square military parade. Vladimir Putin spoke on the occasion. He’s mindful of Washington’s imperial plans. He stressed Russia’s commitment to peace, saying:

“We remember what the tragedy of war means, and we will do everything, everything that we can to ensure that no one ever dares unleash another one, to ensure that no one threatens our children, our home, our land.”

“We will do everything to strengthen global security.”

Washington, key NATO partners, Israel, and other regional allies threaten it. They’re heading incrementally for more war. Ousting Assad remains policy.

On May 9, Secretary of State Kerry reiterated where America stands.

During a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, he claimed all sides were working to “effect a transition government by mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgment President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government.”

In other words, Assad must go. Syrians have no say. International law doesn’t matter. US-prioritized regime change overrules it. Washington rules alone count. Same old, same old remains policy.

Recent events suggest what’s coming. Israel’s very much involved. Last weekend’s premeditated bombings were a joint US/Israeli operation. Very likely they advanced the ball toward full-scale intervention.

Falsely accusing Syria of using chemical weapons did so further. Western-backed death squad massacres blamed on Assad pile on more.

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Greg Hunter ~ Weekly News Wrap Up May 10 2013 [Video]

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USA Watchdog

Israel bombed Syria at the beginning of the week, and it has huge possible consequences to the U.S., Middle East and the world.  The Israelis reportedly attacked multiple sites in Syria.  Part of the raid was meant to destroy Iranian rockets that could strike just about anywhere in Israel.  At least 100 Syrian soldiers were killed.  These scud rockets are a fourth generation missile that are precision guided, carry a 1,000 pound payload and have a range of 185 miles.  The Israelis are afraid of these rockets falling into the hands of Hezbollah, a terror group backed by Syria and Iran.  The Iranians charge there is going to be a “crushing response.” Syria called this an “act of war.” Whatever you call it, it’s an escalation in a civil war that has already claimed the lives of 70,000 Syrians.  The big problem is going to be payback and implications of this turning into a wider Middle East war and possibly world war.  Russia, China and Iran back Syria.  The U.S. and its allies back the rebels that have ties to al-Qaeda–also a terror group.

Benghazi whistleblowers testified in Congress, and some bombs were dropped.  One of the biggest was from Deputy Chief Gregory Hicks who said he spoke on the phone with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hours after the attack started.  Hicks told Secretary of State Clinton that Benghazi was under attack.  There was no mention of protests or an anti-Islam YouTube video.  Hicks testified that the video was a “non-event.”  Ms. Clinton knew right then and there it was a terror attack.  Why the talking points for U.N. Secretary Susan Rice on five Sunday talk shows that this was a protest about a video?  Second big question was who told the military to stand down?  It was reported a C-130 could have been there in four hours from the U.S. airbase in Italy.  There were men ready to go from Tripoli to Benghazi in cars to try to save U.S. personnel fighting off waves of attacks.  The attacks lasted 12 hours.  The U.S. flew 20,000 missions to bomb and attack the Gadhafi regime, and we couldn’t get to Benghazi with any air support?   If Hillary Clinton knew there was a terror attack, then why the phony story about a stupid “non-event” video.

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Stephen Lendman ~ Profile Of Lawless Aggression

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Stephen Lendman May 7 2013

Partners in war crimes

Israel and America are longstanding imperial partners. They spurn international laws. They do so repeatedly. They ignore their own.

They jointly plan and wage wars. Israel’s attack on Syria was a joint US/Israeli provocation. Haaretz’s military correspondent Amos Harel suggested it, saying:

“The (US) administration officials’ familiarity with the nature of the Syrian targets seems to indicate that there had been advance coordination with Israel, and make the attacks look more and more like part of a larger campaign that isn’t over yet.”

Israel’s weekend attacks were lawless acts of aggression. Post-WW I, the League of Nations failed to prevent them. So did Kellogg-Briand.

In August 1928, America, Germany France, Britain, Italy, Japan, and nine other nations signed on.

It promised wars would no longer resolve “disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them.”

Violators “should be denied the benefits furnished by this treaty.”

Article 8 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention of Rights and Duties says “No state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another.”

Under Article 10, differences between states “should be settled by recognized pacific methods.”

Article 11 calls sovereign state territory “inviolable….”

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Syrian Rebels Used Chemical Weapons – UN Report [Video]

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RTAmerica May 6 2013

US government officials have claimed that Bashar al-Assad’s government used chemical weapons against the citizens of Syria, but according to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry that may not be the case. According to the findings of the commission, there is evidence that suggests the anti-government rebels in the country are guilty of these allegations. Israel has launched air strikes against the worn torn country in an attempt to stop the movement of weapons allegedly coming in from Iran, but what is really going on the ground? RT’s Anastasia Churkina breaks it down.

Greg Hunter ~ Weekly News Wrap Up May 3 2013 [Video]

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USA Watchdog

This week, the President was asked about State Department whistleblowers that claim they are being pressured NOT to come forward.  The President said he was not aware of this.  Meanwhile, whistleblowers are scheduled to testify in Congress on Benghazi.  Our Ambassador and three others were killed in a terrorist attack on 9/11/12.  Some are charging the White House is stonewalling on important details to cover gross mistakes on foreign policy.

War drums continue to pound around Syria.  There are charges of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.  The President said chemical weapons use constituted a “red line’ that would be a “game changer.”  Now, the President said he does not want to rush to judgment.  Meanwhile, the U.S. is going to provide weapons to the Syrian rebels, which are heavily supported by al-Qaeda.  More than 70,000 have died in the bloody civil war, and there is not only no end in sight but things seem to be escalating.

Speaking of war, China has sent a platoon of its soldiers deep into India.  The Chinese troops are reportedly setting up camp in a disputed region on the border of China and India.  This is creating a crisis that could lead to yet another world conflict.  The Chinese troops are about 12 miles inside India, and there is no resolution in sight.

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Mahala ~ Planet Alert May 2013

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Mahala’s Astrology  April 30 2013

What do you think about the intense energy we have been feeling with Mars in the fire sign Aries along with the sun? It has been a very war-like violent energy, as witnessed by the event in Boston and the fertilizer plant in Texas. I am so glad we are out of the Aries energy and into the energy of Taurus, which is ruled by Venus, although Mars will still be traveling along with the Sun for a few more days. We are still feeling the Mars energy, and Syria is now in the spot light.

On the full moon day of April 25th I heard on the news that Syria was using chemical weapons. I thought -oh no – this is bad news because the moon and Saturn are over Syria, Iran, and Israel, and the Sun and Mars are opposing that aspect. I was concerned about what that energy would trigger, and here we are in another crisis. How will this crisis be solved?

I had the time period from April 15th to the end of the month underlined in my Astrology book because of the intense energy it would create. It started out on Monday the 15th with the gold bubble bursting. Many people lost lots of money with their gold stock. It really took a tumble.

Then we had the Boston Marathon and everyone knows what happened there. Then a couple of days later there was an explosion at a chemical plant in Texas. That was a very fiery explosive week and it appeared to me like Boston was a war zone. My compassion goes out to everyone who was hurt, or lost loved ones in those events. We need to move into a higher frequency Earth where violence does not exist.

Taurus rules money. We have already experienced the downfall of the gold market. With Mars opposing Saturn it seems like there will be more challenges around money. Normally Mars and Saturn together bring police involvement, military action and challenges with money. Maybe the old system will continue to change so the new money system can finally manifest. Where is the abundance for everyone? Will that be a manifestation of the New Earth? If so, let’s all see us living on that Earth. It’s just a matter of changing our perception of life and feeling and manifesting love.

The meaning of the degree of this past full moon (April 25) was ‘A woman at an open grave.’ My degree book goes on to say that the principle of integration and form is withdrawn; leaving the Void-the open grave that ends all attachments. Check out the Tarot card called Judgment. It has a picture of a woman angel blowing a trumpet (Gabrielle) and people are coming out of their graves. Does this mean we have released our attachments to the past? New creation comes out of the Void. What is next?

Now the upcoming eclipse New Moon is on May 9th. The meaning of this degree is a new continent rising out of the ocean. It brings the surge of new potentiality after the crisis. When the mind has been emptied and light has been called upon to purify the consciousness freed from its attachment and contaminations, a new release of life can emerge out of the infinite ocean of potentiality. It sounds like we are on our way to something new. How exciting is this?

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NYT: ‘Nowhere In Rebel-Controlled Syria Is There A Secular Fighting Force To Speak Of’

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LD Report April 27 2013

Time to end Western support for terrorists in Syria.

Image: (Edlib News Network Enn, via Associated Press) Al Qaeda terrorists in Idlib, Syria. It is now admitted by the New York Times that the entire armed so-called “opposition” is comprised entirely of Al Qaeda, meaning the torrent of cash and weapons sent to the “opposition” by the West and its regional allies, were intentionally sent directly to listed terrorists guilty of a multitude of unprecedented atrocities.

April 27, 2013 (LD) – In an astounding admission, the New York Times confirms that the so-called “Syrian opposition” is entirely run by Al Qaeda and literally states:

 Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.

From the beginning, it was clear to geopolitical analysts that the conflict in Syria was not “pro-democracy” protesters rising up, but rather the fruition of a well-documented conspiracy between the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia to arm and direct sectarian extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda against the Syrian government.

This was documented as early as 2007 – a full 4 years before the 2011 “Arab Spring” would begin – by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh in his New Yorker article titled, “”The Redirection: Is the Administration’s new policy benefiting our enemies in the war on terrorism?” which stated specifically (emphasis added):

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

For the past two years the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Turkey have sent billions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into Syria along side known-terrorists from Libya, Chechnya, neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. In the Telegraph’s article titled, “US and Europe in ‘major airlift of arms to Syrian rebels through Zagreb’,” it is reported:

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Stephen Lendman ~ America’s Addiction: Waging War On Humanity

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Stephen Lendman April 28 2013

America’s business is war. Permanent wars reflect official US policy. They’re glorified in the name of peace.
One nation after another is ravaged. Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel called it being “cold-blooded about the self-interests of your nation.”
Obama’s the latest US warrior president. Imperial lawlessness defines his agenda. Out-of-control militarism rages. Humanity’s survival is threatened.
Syria is Obama’s war. Direct intervention looms. Claims about Syria using chemical weapons don’t wash. Syrian officials categorically deny them.
On April 27, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) headlined “Information Minister: Western Sides Are Directly Responsible for Chemical Weapons Use in Khan al-Assal,” saying:
Omran al-Zoubi said chemical weapons likely came from Turkey. “The US-British and Western allegations in general on this issue do not have any credibility.”
A missile targeting Khan al-Assal came from a terrorist-controlled location. Syria requested an investigation. According to SANA:
“Al-Zoubi held the Western sides directly responsible for what happened in Khan al-Assal, saying they want now to hide behind this ‘fabricated and false’ talk to justify their silence on failing the investigation mission requested by Syria and to exonerate the terrorists.”
“The Minister added that the US is already involved in large-scale terrorist operations in the world, and is involved in Syria now because of its support for and silence on the terrorism committed by the terrorist groups.”
The road to Tehran runs through Damascus. Waging full-scale war on Syria looms. It appears prelude to targeting Iran. Spurious Iranian threats continue.

Syria: Chemical Warfare Claims A Lie

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The Sydney Morning Herald April 29 2013

A firefighter hoses water on a burning gas station, which activists say was the result of shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Raqqa province on Friday. Photo: Reuters

The Assad regime has dismissed as a ”barefaced lie” US and British claims it might have used chemical arms, with staunch ally Russia warning against using such fears to launch a military intervention.

The developments come with at least 10 people have been killed in shelling on the town of Douma, north-east of the capital Damascus, and renewed fighting in other areas on Saturday.

”I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie,” Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi said in an interview with the Kremlin-funded Russia Today TV network.

”I want to stress one more time that Syria would never use [chemical weapons] – not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues.”

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has called on Syria to approve a UN mission of inspectors to probe the alleged use of deadly chemicals in the spiralling conflict that erupted in March 2011. But Mr Zohbi told RT that Damascus could not trust UN inspectors from Britain and the United States. ”We … do not trust their qualifications,” he said. ”Their aim is to juggle with facts.” But he said Syria would accept Russian inspectors.

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Chemical Inspection Stalled: UN Team Can’t Be Trusted ‘Politically’ Without Russian Experts – Syrian Information Minister

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End The Lie April 27 2013

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zouabi

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zouabi

Without hard evidence, American accusations of chemical weapons use in Syria fall short of UN proof standards, says a UN chemical inspector. And in the way proposed, a probe would only result in an Iraqi scenario, the Syrian information minister told RT.

The anti-Assad lobby in the UN is using the chemical weapons scare as a new way to exert political and economic pressure on the Syrian government, the country’s information minister Omran Ahed al-Zouabi told RT.

“First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie,” he told RT. “I want to stress one more time that Syria would never use it – not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues.”

Syria itself made the official request to the UN to investigate the incident in Khan al-Assal, which is an “important and brave step,” al-Zouabi stressed.

“It proves once again that the whole policy of the Syrian government is targeted against use of any kind of weapons of mass destruction by anybody: terrorists, Israel or any other neighboring state,” he said.

The United States pretends that there are no terrorists acting on Syrian territory at the same time being a country “involved in the biggest terror acts in the world,” the minister claimed. “The US is concealing that Qatar is financing terrorists, supply weapons to them. Thus, the US is basically involved in what is happening in Syria.”

‘Iraqi scheme of inspections’

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Paul Craig Roberts ~ If You Want To Go To Heaven, You Had Better Get Busy Overthrowing Syria

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Paul Craig Roberts April 21 2013

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad

The United States government has been at war for eleven years. The US military destroyed Iraq, leaving the country and millions of lives in ruins and releasing sectarian blood-letting that had been kept in check by the secular Saddam Hussein government. On any given day in “liberated” Iraq, the death toll is as high as during the height of the US attempted occupation.

In Afghanistan eleven years of US attempted occupation has had no more success than a decade of Soviet occupation. The Afghans are still not worn down despite more than two decades of war with the two superpowers. Like the Soviets, the Americans have managed to kill many women, children, and village elders, but precious few warriors. In place of the Soviet puppet government there is Washington’s puppet government. That is the only change, and Washington’s puppet is no more secure than the Soviet one was.

In Libya, Washington used its corrupt NATO puppets and CIA-recruited bandits to overthrow another stable government, that of Muammar Gaddafi, leaving Libya mired in sectarian violence. A stable prosperous country has simply been destroyed by western governments that profess human rights values and condemn China and Russia for not having any.

Washington has also been killing civilians with drones and air strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, two countries with which Washington is not at war but has purchased the governments, paying the Pakistani and Yemeni governments for the right to murder their citizens and destabilizing both countries in the process.

And now in Syria Washington is at work destroying another stable secular government headed by a British trained eye doctor.

Washington’s eleven years of illegal aggression against Muslim countries–war crimes according to the Nuremberg trials of Nazis–have resulted in civilian deaths far in excess of military casualties and in a domestic American police state that has destroyed the rule of law and the constitutional protections of US citizens. Washington and its presstitutes have emphasized that these costs are necessary to save Americans from al-Qaeda terrorists, none of whom have ever been apprehended in the United States.

Having listened to the propaganda line pumped out by Washington and its Ministry of Propaganda for eleven years, imagine my astonishment when I saw two juxtaposed headlines: “Al-Nusra pledges allegiance to al-Qaeda” (BBC) and “Move to Widen Help for Syrian Rebels Gains Speed in West” (NY Times). Al-Nusra is the main military component of the “Syrian rebels,” and it has allied itself with our mortal enemy–Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.

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Greg Hunter ~ Weekly News Wrap Up February 15 2013 [Video]

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USA Watchdog February 15 2013

The big story this week was the State of the Union address by the President and the rebuttals. Please note “rebuttals” plural. Everyone knows Senator Marco Rubio, but not much coverage was given to Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky. I thought President Obama and Senator Rubio did a fine job of presenting their points and vision. (I do not care about the stupid controversy over Rubio picking up a bottle of water.) I thought the most important points made in the State of the Union address were given by Senator Paul, but most people didn’t hear or see what he had to say because of the near blackout by the mainstream media (MSM.) Senator Paul called for a balanced budget amendment to get the U.S. fiscal house in order. He noted we are borrowing $50,000 per second.

The Republicans are blocking Chuck Hagel’s confirmation for Secretary of Defense. They want more information on Benghazi where four citizens were murdered by terrorists. In the end, the Secretary of Defense will do what the President says no matter who is in charge over there, but before there is a confirmation, there will likely be more information disclosed about that terror attack.

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Tony Cartalucci ~ Hypocrisy: US Arms Al Qaeda In Syria, Mass-Slaughters Civilians In Afghanistan

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theintelhub.com February 13 2013

Image: Just some of the corporate members of the US-Qatar Business Council, whose president just so happens to sit on the same board of directors of the Middle East Policy Center as Karen AbuZayd, co-author of one of many conveniently timed UN Human Rights Council reports on Syria.

AFP has reported that a recent NATO airstrike in Afghanistan has killed over 10 civilians in an all-too-familiar headline glossed over by the Western media in an exercise of both depravity and hypocrisy.

RT’s article, “NATO airstrike kills 10 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children – officials,” notes in particular that up to 11,864 civilians were killed in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2011, and that civilian deaths before 2007 were not even tracked by the UN.

Such facts reveal alarming hypocrisy as the UN keeps almost daily, inflated tallies of civilian deaths elsewhere, in particular, in nations like Libya and Syria where Western interests have been heavily involved in regime change and in dire need of manipulating public perception worldwide.

The United Nations had in fact pieced together a dubious report crafted from “witness accounts” compiled not in Syria, or even beyond its borders in a refugee camp, but instead, in Geneva by “witnesses” supplied by the so-called Syrian “opposition.”

Worse yet, that UN report was co-authored by Karen Koning AbuZayd, a director of the US Washington-based corporate think-tank, Middle East Policy Council.

Its board of directors includes Exxon men, CIA agents, representatives of the Saudi Binladin Group (Osama Bin Laden’s family business), former ambassadors to Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar, US military and government representatives, and even the president of the US-Qatar Business Council, which includes amongst its membership, Al Jazeera, Chevron, Exxon, munitions manufacturer Raytheon (who supplied the opening salvos during NATO’s operations against Libya), and Boeing.

In other words, the very underwriters of the armed militancy that is consuming Syria are sitting along side the head of the UN commission producing reports portraying the Syrian government as guilty of “war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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